Asia Racing Team secured podium finishes during the first of two triple-header race weekends in the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship (F4 SEA) at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
After a successful presence at the series’ opening round in Zhuzhou and the extra-championship Macau Grand Prix Formula 4 Race, Asia Racing Team entered three cars for the first of the two Malaysian rounds. Seventeen-year-old Joaquin ‘Wakkeen’ Garrido joined the season regulars Kevin Xiao Kunpeng and Enzo Yeh.
In the initial qualifying session, Enzo Yeh posted the fifth-best time, Joaquin Garrido was P13, and Kevin Xiao P17.
The first race on Saturday saw Enzo Yeh involved in a three-car battle, displaying great maturity to finish in fourth place. Kevin Xiao took a cautious approach but managed to climb a few places to finish P13, while Joaquin Garrido completed his first-ever formula cars race in P17.
With the top 10 reversed on the grid for the second race, Enzo Yeh impressed once again. After a good start, he followed the leaders to move up to second place, achieving his best result of the season. In his best race of the weekend on a new track for him, China’s Kevin Xiao capitalized on other drivers’ mistakes to finish eighth. Single-seater debutant Joaquin Garrido had an eventful race; after stalling at the start, he retired due to damage to his car.
Heavy rain caused a delayed start to the final race. Despite the weather easing, the action began behind the safety car due to the wet track. Enzo Yeh emerged from an early battle with Alister Yoong to take seventh, closing in on the cars in front by the finish. Behind him, Filipino Joaquin Garrido completed the top 10, three places ahead of teammate Kevin Xiao.
With only three races remaining, Asia Racing Team’s drivers Tiago Rodrigues and Kevin Xiao currently hold the third and fourth positions in the standings, while Enzo Yeh is in sixth place. Kevin Xiao leads the Rookie Cup ahead of Enzo Yeh, and Asia Racing Team is at the top of the team standings.
Team Principal Jack Pang said: “This weekend marks the first overseas race for the merged Asia Racing Team-BlackJack Racing squad. We overcame significant logistics challenges and did a good job. Our aim for next week is to make another step forward with all our drivers and secure the Teams Championship win.”
The F4 SEA championship continues next weekend at the former Sepang F1 track.
